Library Media Practium Requirements

Supervised School Library Practicum CombinedLIBMEDIA 793C

Instructor: Eileen E. Schroeder
Office: 1005 Winther Hall, UW-Whitewater
Telephone: 262-472-2837
Email:

Course Description:

Catalog description

This course provides licensed teachers in the school library program with the opportunity to fully develop, practice, and reflect upon skills acquired through coursework in a supervised field experience in an elementary and a secondary school library and in work in their own schools. Students create a portfolio demonstrating mastery of program competencies. Prereq: Graduate status, review of portfolio and consent of instructor, completion of at least 12 credits at UW-Whitewater, 3.10 GPA in library media courses taken before entering the library media practicum.

At the end of 902 initial level coursework, each student will do an elementary / secondary practicum experience in a public school library. This license is called 902 professional with stipulations for those with a teaching license that precedes August 2004. For students who have a teaching license at the start of their coursework and are either working as a teacher in a school or as a school librarian on emergency license, this practicum course combines the elementary and secondary experiences in a single course. It both provides experiences in two different school libraries outside one’s own school and allows the student to carry out projects in their own setting that demonstrate program competencies.

Objectives

The practicum experiences are the culminating experiences in the licensure preparation program and will be used to complete the student’s portfolio which is submitted for review to grant initial licensure as a school library media specialist in Wisconsin. The objectives of these experiences are:

• Use the new skills and knowledge acquired in the coursework;
• Further develop knowledge and skills in those areas where weaknesses have been identified;
• Examine a real-world school library media program and reflect on the experience, tying it back to one’s own situation if already in a school;
• Develop a relationship with two practitioners;
• Demonstrate mastery of the program’s competencies; and
• Further develop a personal philosophy of school librarianship and reflect on own practice.

The library media program requires a set of competencies based on

• the content competencies defined by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in PI 34 in the standards for initial and professional licensure as a library media specialist,
• the standards approved by NCATE in the fall of 2002, and
• the ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Programs for School Library Media Specialist Preparation.

All assessment points in the program are based on these competencies including the pre-practicum portfolio review and the final portfolio review at the end of the practicum experiences.

Conceptual Framework
The College of Education conceptual framework, The Teacher is a Reflective Facilitator, is the underlying structure in the teacher preparation program at UW-Whitewater that gives conceptual meaning. It also provides an underlying philosophy for our licensure programs, courses, teaching, candidate performance, faculty scholarship and service, and unit accountability. In short, our teacher education program is committed to reflection upon practice; to facilitation of creative learning experiences for pupils; to constructivism in that all learners take an active role in their own learning; to information and technology literacy; to diversity; and to inquiry (research/scholarship) and assessment.

Alternative Arrangements

Many of the students in classes are practicing teachers or library media specialists on emergency licenses. Practicum experiences for this program are set up to provide valuable experiences in two different school libraries, one at the elementary and one at the secondary level, while allowing the student to relate the experience directly back to his or her own workplace and complete the experience with the minimum amount of disruption in work schedule. Students may choose to do their two experiences in the format listed below or fulfill the requirements of a standard practicum (i.e., 100 hours at each site).

Portfolio

All practicum experiences are tied to program competencies and projects developed at the start of the experience. Each student will create a practicum agreement listing specific activities to demonstrate these competencies and hours to be spent on each. Specific projects may be suggested by the practicum coordinator and university supervisor after review of the student’s course portfolio. The practicum agreement and projects must be approved by the practicum coordinator before starting the experience.

Levels and Hours

The elementary level may be in an elementary or middle school; the secondary level may be in either middle or high school. The choice is up to the student, but only one may be at the middle school level. The total number of hours of work devoted to activities is 100 hours at each level.

Library Media Specialist on Emergency Licenses or Current Classroom Teacher

Students who have a teaching license at the start of their coursework and have been working in a school library media center or teaching in a school for at least six months before the start of the practicum are eligible to do their two experiences in a modified format. For those currently working across a K-12 setting, their activities must relate to the appropriate level and you can only carry out activities such as interviewing the principal, attending a board meeting, or working with the public library once.

For each level – elementary and secondary (100 hours each)
NOTE: The lowest number of hours outside one’s building is for those working on emergency license as a library media specialist in a K-12 setting (96 hours). Most people will have to do a minimum of 124 hours outside their building. Specific hours will be determined for each individual at the beginning of the practicum in consulation with the practicum coordinator. For summer school experiences, the consecutive days must total 40 hours per level.

• Develop questions and interview your principal and one other principal in your district on the role of the LMS and the library media program in the school
• Attend a school board meeting and reflect on the process
• Talk with the public librarian in the area, learn about the public library system in the area, and develop a joint program
• Examine the district’s policies related to information access, technology, copyright, etc.
• Analyze the district’s information and technology skills curriculum and its integration into the curriculum

• Develop questions and interview your principal and one other principal in your district on the role of the LMS and the library media program in the school
• Attend a school board meeting and reflect on the process
• Talk with the public librarian in the area, learn about the public library system in the area, and develop a joint program
• Examine the district’s policies related to information access, technology, copyright, etc.
• Analyze the district’s information and technology skills curriculum and its integration into the curriculum

Certified Teachers Currently Not Working in a School

For each level – elementary and secondary:

• Develop questions and interview your principal and one other principal in your district on the role of the LMS and the library media program in the school
• Attend a school board meeting and reflect on the process
• Talk with the public librarian in the area, learn about the public library system in the area, and develop a joint program
• Examine the district’s policies related to information access, technology, copyright, etc.
• Analyze the district’s information and technology skills curriculum and its integration into the curriculum

Procedures

See the practicum website ( for specifics on setting up the practicum. This must be done by the deadlines listed on the site. Meet with the supervisor before starting the practicum (via phone, email or in person).

Present your portfolio to the university supervisor. The supervisor will examine you ratings from each course as well as the areas you have identified for further work. These areas will provide the basis for development of your practicum plan.

• Complete a field project / practicum proposal form:
• Develop a set of goals and a practicum proposal for accomplishing them during the experience based on your portfolio goals. Describe areas (competencies) that need improvement. If none are identified, select those that would benefit you most professionally. Any competencies with less than a Proficient rating must be addressed in the practicum.
• Use the checklist of potential activities for ideas
• Have at least three major goals in different areas and minor ones in the others as agreed upon with your supervisor.
• Ask the cooperating library media specialist to provide feedback if possible and determine if the goals are attainable during this time.
• Develop a plan for accomplishing goals along with projected products
• Discuss the goals and plan with the university supervisor. This should include details on the timeline for the practicum and a description of the format for the final product / report demonstrating achievement of the goals.
• The university supervisor must approve the form
• Carry out the activities detailed in the practicum proposal during the experience. This will be done during the on-site hours, with additional work possibly done back at one's own school as appropriate to reach the goals.
• Send periodic updates (log with reflections) via email to the supervisor (time period to be determined by supervisor based on length of practicum).
• Visit with the supervisor twice on-site. One of these may be the initial goal-setting meeting.
• Complete a final report demonstrating achievement of the goals by the week before the end of the semester in which the practicum is completed. This become part of your portfolio which is reviewed for licensure.

Textbook

There is no required textbook, but the following are recommended reference materials:

Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (2009). Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Wisconsin’s Model Academic Standards for Information and Technology Literacy (1998). Madison, Wisconsin DPI.

Information & Technology Literacy: A Collaborative Planning Guide for Library Media and Technology (2002). Madison, Wisconsin DPI.

Donham, Jean (2008). Enhancing teaching and learning : a leadership guide for school library media specialists. 2nd ed. New York : Neal-Schuman Publishers.

Toor, Ruth, and Weisburg, Hilda K. (2006). New on the Job: A School Library Media Specialist's Guide to Success. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Assessment

Evaluation of student performance is based on the program competencies defined for initial licensure. Specific areas for work will be determined in the practicum agreement and evaluated through:

Two to three visits by university supervisor (at least one in person at each level with additional contacts via phone or video and potentially one visit in one’s home school). More may be set up at the discretion of the supervisor.

Evaluation completed by cooperating library media specialist at each level.

Review of final portfolio by university supervisor:

oLogs

oPracticum agreement, projects and reflections

oCooperating library media specialist evaluations

oUniversity supervisor evaluations

Review of portfolio by university faculty members will take place to grantinitiallicensure

This course is graded on a pass / fail basis.

University Policies

Attendance:

This is a field-based experience so regular attendance is crucial to successful performance and evidence of professional behavior. Both the university supervisor and the cooperating library media specialist should be notified of any absences. It is the student’s responsibility to make up lost time and to reflect all practicum time in the log.

Religious Beliefs Accommodation:

Board of Regents policy states that students' sincerely held religious beliefs shall be reasonably accommodated with respect to scheduling all examinations and other academic requirements. Students must notify the instructor, within the first three weeks of the beginning of classes (within the first three weeks of summer session and short courses), of the specific days or dates on which they will request accommodation from an examination or academic requirement. For additional information, please refer to the section in the University Bulletin and the Timetable titled, Accommodation of Religious Beliefs.

Academic Misconduct:

The University believes that academic honesty and integrity are fundamental to the mission of higher education and of the University of Wisconsin System. The University has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity and to develop procedures to deal effectively with instances of academic dishonesty. Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources,and for respect of others' academic endeavors. Students who violate these standards are subject to disciplinary action. UWS Chapter 14 identifies procedures to be followed when a student is accused of academic misconduct. For additional information, please refer to the section in the Student Handbook titled, Student Academic Disciplinary procedures.

Absence for University Sponsored Events:

University policy adopted by the Faculty Senate and the Whitewater Student Government states that students will not be academically penalized for missing class in order to participate in university sanctioned events. They will be provided an opportunity to make up any work that is missed; and if class attendance is a requirement, missing a class in order to participate in a university sanctioned event will not be counted as an absence. A university sanctioned event is defined to be an intercollegiate athletic contest or other such event as determined by the Provost. Activity sponsors are responsible for obtaining the Provost's prior approval of an event as being university sanctioned and for providing an official list of participants. Students are responsible for notifying their instructors in advance of their participation in such events.